Light My Fire
by TigerFlower
Summary: A teenage and mature Mai, who is on the run from Azula and considered a traitor, is hiding out in the forest. She runs into Zuko and things just go from there. Not going to be very long, but R&R if you don't mind.
1. Chapter 1

**-O-**

She was on her stomach in the high thornbush at the edge of the woods, just out of reach of the firelight, and was motionless, holding her breath. She would not be doing what she was about to do had not the circumstances been the way they were. She had not eaten for two days straight; she was hungry and in need for a new katana and stilettos, for the sword she possessed now was cracked and near the point of breaking, and she had lost most of her stiletto wepaons during hunting. The camp in front of her seemed to be her best bet, for it was not as if she would find her supplies lying out in the woods. Thomas, a young man she had encountered a few weeks ago and insisted on staying with her since, was somewhere in the darkness behind her.

She could not just go and ask for the things she needed; that would mean something terrible, perhaps immediate death. She was honestly not afraid, but certainly did not want to die. The camp was Fire Nation, and two months ago that would have been a safe haven for her. But the events that had taken place had driven her to seperating herself from the alliance with Princess Azula, and thus being forced to act as if she did not exist. If the princess found her, especially so near to the camp, she would be called a traitor and face an uncertain fate. She had parted from the rocky friendship with the princess out of for the most part frustration, for there was only so much mental and verbal abuse she could take.

The princess was a very self-centered and bitter teenage girl; she had the tendency to be cruel and unfair, and if things were not going her way, it was a bad thing for the people around her. Her violent temper was a curse to her servants and friends, and that was if she had even managed to make friends. So the reason for the seperation was no mystery.

Now in the brush, Thomas appeared silently and looked down with worry. His blond hair fell into his eyes as he crouched down and whispered, "Mai, the time isn't right. What if you get caught?"

She waved him to silence him, ignoring him as usual, and listened. She could hear the noises of the camp, the crackling of the fire, and the hard beating of her own heart. She was not usually nervous, but this time she could feel it creeping upon her. She was weak from hunger, but her stubbornness drove her on. She and Thomas had only known each other for three weeks, but for some reason she felt an unusual responsibility for him that also fueled her need to steal. She knew it was wrong, but had never exactly cared in the first place, and wanted to make sure that Thomas knew that. She would not let him forget his place.

"If I get caught, I can get out," she replied flatly. She had not mastered any bending of an element, but Thomas knew her power of cunning and weapons. She had used this ability to her advantage more than once, and she was headstrong, yet relaxed, and was not afraid to show it.

Thomas had mastered no element either. He still marveled over Mai's ability to hold her own without one, but she had always brushed him off about it, too cold and set in her ways to really care what he thought anyway. Thomas allowed himself to be subject to her and often did whatever he could to satisfy her, but that usually consisted of being quiet and staying out of her way, and there was no mistaking that he was not content with this, but did not have the bravery to say so. Besides, he knew that he was lucky that she was letting him travel with her at all.

At first glance, Mai did not look like a girl who would be living in the wilderness. She was tall, thin, and very shapely but her loose-fitting clothing prevented the eye from seeing it, for she was a very reserved person. She did not have to worry about looking good, for she was very pretty in a natural way and did not wear face paint- she did not need to. Her clothes reflected her personality, a dark-colored maroon and black robe, with large maroon sleeves which was where she secretly hid most of her weapons. Her hands were covered by black fingeless gloves that extended up her arms. Her black hair was put up on her head but hung down in thick ringlets. She did not care much for fashion, but nearly everything she wore managed to look good on her thin frame. In fact, nearly everything about her was thin. Her face, her golden eyes, even the dark bangs that hung over her forehead.

Mai was on a slow journey to the well-known city of Shecca, for she was not known by the Fire Nation there and wished to find a job so she could earn money and live civilly, or at least for awhile. She lived in the wilderness because she had no other family and nowhere to go; she had no one but Thomas now, who for some reason that she did not know had decided to accompany her on her long journey, though he knew that the city was so far away that it would probably take a very long time to get there, especially at this rate. Mai did not really care if she had him there or not, for she would much rather be alone, but she tolerated him. They both knew that the camp they were following was not headed for Shecca, for Thomas had heard someone state so, so Mai knew that they would have to break off from the camp before long. It was why she was so intent on getting her supplies now; it could not wait another night.

There was no doubt in her mind that the camp was Fire Nation. Anyone who knew the signs of the nations could see that, and luckily she knew them. The Fire Nation was a very ruthless and powerful people, and Mai knew it quite well. But there were various tents on the campsite, and she knew exactly which one housed the weapons and which one the kitchen. She decided that when it was the right time to make her move, she would infiltrate the weapons tent first. For if she got a good weapon and no food, she could at least have better chances at hunting.

"Stay here," Mai commanded, and slowly pushed herself up to her knees. Thorns got caught in her hair and robe, but she ignored them and prepared to move. She was a very skilled fighter and stealthy when she wanted to be, so she did not have much worry about getting caught. It was late at night and most of the fires of the camp had been put out, and most of the men were asleep. Mai's position helped her out, but it was not a coincidence- she had chosen this spot to emerge from the woods because it was closest to the weapons tent, and the closer it was, that meant she would have to spend less time out in the open. There was no telling whether there would be guards inside the tent, but she did not have time to think on it. She tried to prepare herself for anything, calm as usual, and took in a slow breath.

Thomas squeezed her wrist to show that he was supporting her, but she pulled away irritably and moved. She silently streaked across the grassless ground, calm and collected, and quickly came upon the side of the tent. She pressesd her back against one of the poles that kept it together, careful to stay in the dark shadows, and breathed easily. She was very agile and fairly skilled in the ways of hand-to-hand battle, but she was quite hoplessly outnumbered, regardless of her prowess. Even with Thomas backing her up, they were automatically defeated if caught. It was why she must keep her presence concealed.

She crept sideways and hoped that no one would be inside the tent. If there were only a few guards, she could probably take them easily, but if not... Silent as an owl in flight, she slowly looked around the corner and into the opening of the tent. She saw the shine and glare of weapons inside, and there was one small lantern, but thankfully no guards.Feeling the eyes of Thomas on her, she went inside and gladly vanished from his view. There were so many weapons inside here, all with the mark of the Fire Nation, that she had no idea which one to take first. Mostly there were katanas and other types of long blades, but she was uncomfortable with standing there and thinking on it, so she located a sturdy-looking blade and gently took it from its peg on the wall. The hilt was made out of the most beautiful gold and wood, with the mark carved into the side of it, and the actual blade was shiny and very sharp. She fingered it gently, but knew that she must move quickly. But as she turned towards the opening in the tent, she discovered that she was not alone, for there was an armed guard standing broadly in the doorway with his eyes glaring into her.

There was not time to let him make contact with her, so she did the first thing that comes into her mind. She whipped three stilettos from her wide sleeve and threw them hard with ease. So quick was her action that the guard had no time to move, and the jagged points of the flying weapons hit his armor and drove him backward. Mai knew that it was now a good time to get out, so she grabbed the katana and made a hasty escape that she made sure was not entirely appearing fearful. She went gracefully by the guard, who was trying to pull the weapons from his armor, and then quickened her pace towards the woods.

Princess Azula was more than likely not in the camp, but if Mai was caught she would end up facing her eventually. Mai had always obeyed the princess, but unlike nearly everyone else, she was unafraid of the hot-tempered Azula, despite the princess's terribly advanced firebending and skill in martial arts. But having no fear did not guarantee safety. When this party of firebenders made their way back to the princess, they would tell her of their sighting of Mai, and then Azula would be very aware of her old friend's close whereabouts.

Mai and Azula had been on-and-off friends for years, up until now, but that would mean nothing to the ruthless Fire Nation princess. She used every chance she got to humiliate or cause pain to others- Mai had seen it before and did not exactly wish it upon herself. Azula had especially directed her bullying upon her older brother Zuko, on whom Mai had once had a crush and had to admit to herself that though she had not seen him in years, she still did. He was actually now in exile and was the object of his sister's pursuit. Mai did not know the story well, but she knew that the Fire Lord Ozai had commanded Azula to find her brother and uncle, who had accompanied Zuko in his exile, for they were now considered traitors. Mai had only helped Azula in the search because of her secret hopes of seeing Zuko again.

Azula and Mai's other friend in the threesome was Ty Lee, a girl that was pursuaded by the princess to join the search and leave the circus life. Mai had had a better relationship with the bubbly girl than with Azula, but it had not been strong enough to keep Mai from leaving the group. Now if the three of them met up again, Mai knew that she would no doubt have to face them both in battle.

Now she made a quick entrance into the darkness of the woods, but even then she did not slow down. She held the stolen katana tightly in her her hand, and heard Thomas's running foostepts beside her. "How many saw you?" he asked, panting.

She wanted to tell him to shut up, but she kept herself focused on quickly dodging the passing trees and thornbushes. It was somewhat difficult to run in her long robe, but she was used to it by now and still managed to be graceful. Even at her quick running speed, she was still fairly quiet, her thick ringlets of hair flying back behind her, but the same could not be said for Thomas. He was heavier and not near as agile as Mai, and sometimes she just wanted to tell him to get lost, but decided to save that for a time when she was really angry with him.

Thomas was worn out soonly, but Mai had hardly even started to pant. She continued to rush through the thick woods, another silent shadow in the darkness, but began to slow down once she was certain that the camp was far enough away. Even if the guards had come after her, there was no way they could find her in the blackness, and she did not see any torches. So she stopped and leaned the side of herself against a tree to catch her breath. Thomas stopped beside her and bent over with hands on knees, sucking in air. It was a miracle in itself that he had managed to keep up with her somehow.

"They didn't come after us," Mai said after a moment of breathing. Her voice had matured into a woman's by now, as the rest of her had as well, and there was no doubt that Thomas noticed it. She tried not to think that he had feelings for her, for she could not relate.

"Good," he replied in a raspy voice, still bent over and moving his hands to his hips. "At least you got a weapon, though."

Mai turned and leaned her back against the tree, and held up the katana. Its blade reflected the moonlight and shined elegantly. "And I lost three more stilettos," she stated flatly. She glanced up at the sky to determine the time of night, and motioned with her free hand that they should keep moving. A small groan escaped Thomas's throat, but he would not dare trifle with her. Back-talk was completely out of the question, for he knew that she would banish him from her company if he made her angry.

They moved on for another couple of hours, Thomas expressing his discomfort with this by letting out a tired moan every now and then. Mai had the nerve to tell him that if he wanted to rest that he should go ahead but when he woke up she would not be here, but he no doubt already knew that. She was so annoyed with him sometimes that she had considered ditching him many times, but for some reason kept him around.

She did not know why; she certainly had no romantic interest in him. She was the kind of person that was easily bored, and frankly, Thomas bored her. He was all about pleasing her and making her more content, if she was ever content, but his desperateness over her made her nauseous. She felt like slapping him daily but refrained herself from it- she did not want to be like Azula anymore.

When they came to a stop again, the moon was high in the sky and casting some light into the dark woods, making it just bright enough to see. Mai reached to her hair and pulled the ribbon that held it up away, and the black ocean of thickness spilled over her thin shoulders. "I'm going to the creek," she said roughly, "so don't you dare think about following me." He would not follow her, for no one was that foolish, but it would not hurt to make her point again. She glared at him, then left him standing there alone as she went to locate the water. She could hear the rushing of it and absentmindedly found it snaking nicely between the trees. She felt another wave of hunger and tried her best to ignore it. She would go hunting later.

She kicked off her black shoes and unfastened her two-piece robe, slipping the black apron-like part off her shoulders and then shedding the maroon shirt and pants underneath. They all dropped to the ground in a heap and she took off her gloves and stepped into the water. It was fairly deep and quite cold, for the season was hurtling into autumn fast, and she waded out into the deepest part and let herself sink until the water was up to her neck. She shivered involuntarily and then tried to relax. Luckily she had a bar of goat-milk soap with her, which she had also helped herself to previously, and she dunked her head in the cold water and washed her hair. She could feel the rocks on the bed of the creek and the live things swimming around in the water, which did not bother her, and let her mind wander.

She had never thought that it would end up like this. She had lived a fairly normal life before, and it was her boredom that had made her accept Azula's invitation to join the search for the princess's brother and uncle. At the time Mai had not even known what the mission was, but she had been desperate for something to do. But who could stand putting up with Azula's abuse for long amounts of time? Mai had begun to develope a resentment for the princess, and thus felt driven to part company. Too bad Ty Lee had made no offer to come along as well.

Mai was still considering tell Thomas to get lost. True, he had never really done anything to offend her, but she was natrually quite solitary and was better off and more comfortable in silence by herself. Of course, there were certain people that she would be glad to share company with, but the chances of that were very slim. The main thing she needed to concentrate on was figuring out a way to tell Thomas to go away without being overly harsh.

She was starting to get used to the temperature of the water, and actually began to enjoy her bath. She did not usually enjoy much, but she liked being alone and she liked silence. Both of which were hard to have with Thomas around. Well, she would find a way to get rid of him soon enough. If he wanted to go on to Shecca, he could do so by himself.

Mai felt only the tiniest bit badly, for she knew that Thomas no doubt liked her. As far as she thought, he could at least find a different way to express it, other than stalking and clinging around her. Not to say that she would have interest in him in return; she could not imagine that. Thomas was just certainly not her type, and he should know that, shouldn't he? She herself was sixteen but was not sure how old he was, and did not really care. It would not matter for long, anyway. He would be off on his own way again, soon enough. Sometimes she wondered why he had been wandering around in the woods by himself in the first place, but had never cared enough to ask. Perhaps it was a similar reason that she had, but he had never said so.

She stood and wrung out of her thick hair, the water splashing down into the creek in a thick stream. She hauled her dripping self out of the water and onto the sandy creek bed, standing for a few moments to air-dry, then pulled on her clothes and slipped the black sleevless robe on and buttoned it up the front of her shapely torso. She made sure her remaining weapons were still in the sleeves, and once assured that they were, sat down on a dry rock and began to tie up her hair. It was difficult to handle when wet, but she had done it many times and could manage fine.

Suddenly she heard Thomas saying her name in a high whisper. She stiffened as she tied the last ribbon and felt a flare of rage that he would dare approach her when she was bathing in the creek. For all he knew, she could still be naked. She stood up, pondering on what kind of pain to give him, when she heard him call again in a loud whisper. She spotted his silhouette behind a tree and narrowed her thin golden eyes. If he only knew the pain he was about to receive!

"Mai," he whispered hoarsely, and motioned her over to him.

She was coming, all right. She slid both hands into the opposite sleeves, and made her way over to him angrily. "I told you not to follow me," she stated coldly, and she saw his dark form shrink back.

"Mai, it's the Fire Nation guards," he said quickly, holding up a hand as if to block an oncoming attack. "They followed us."

Mai felt her back stiffen. "How many?"

"I don't know, I think just two. Should we get out of here?"

"No." Mai drew the stolen katana out into the open. "You just stay out of my way."

The guards did not know what hit them, and were both down hardly before they could blink, and Mai had not yet even begun to fight. Her skills were incredibly fast and rarely did she miss a hit on her target. As it went with the two guards. The men were back on their feet fairly quickly, but Mai was much faster. As soon as they were up, she moved in with a double-fisted smash to one, immediately followed by a flip-kick to the other. The katana was idle in her hand for now, and she planned for it to remain that way, unless the guards drew weapons. No doubt that they would, but Mai never gave them a chance. She was here, there, and everywhere before the men were even aware of her first location. She had learned a great deal of her acrobatics from Ty Lee during the years that they had known each other, and she silently thanked her friend.

Mai ricocheted off a tree and came back in a multi-combo kick that had the guards quickly down again. She briefly noticed Thomas out of the corner of her eye, staring in awe at her violent performance. She tried not to let him distract her, and performed a series of graceful backflips that took her back away from the guards so she could briefly catch her breath. One of them stood up and picked up an unseen spear from the ground that he had brought with him, and set his sights on Mai. She looked at him squarely, her face expressionless, but her eyes flashed and taunted him. She pressed her long black fingernails into her palms and waited for the man to make his move, who wasted no time and rushed forward at her with spear ready. She patiently waited until he got close, then kicked the oncoming weapon to the side, and while he was trying to regain his balance, used his knee as leverage and smashed his face with spin-kick and karate jab to the jaw. As he fell to the ground she rebounded from him, never even touching the ground, and pulled a few shurikens from her sleeve as she came down upon the other guard. His eyes widened at the sight of her and he quickly moved out of the way.

Mai landed on the ground lightly, but got up in a split second and was in a full run at the guard who was trying to avoid her. As if suddenly hit with a wave of bravery, he narrowed his eyes and took a stab with his spear. It was a well-timed attack, but Mai easily dodged and connected her wrist with the weapon. She pushed it down and to the side, which twisted the man's arm and gave her the upper hand. She yanked the spear from his hands and promptly cracked it in half over her knee. She stood up straight and threw the pieces to the side, her face hard and serious and expression never changing through the entire fight, and took one step towards the man before he backed away and fled into the darkness.

She sensed someone close behind her, and reached back and sure enough connected. She latched her hands into the remaining guard's shirt and summoned all of her strength before bending over and flipping him clear over her head and slamming his heavy body to the ground. The air whooshed from him, and she bent over him with katana in hand and made a mock move of stabbing him. His arms flashed up to protect his face, which was a very useless move anyway, but Mai stopped the blade only inches from his body. It was quite enjoyable to strike fear into the hearts of grown men.

She stood up and put the katana away, then seized the man's shoulders and hauled him up, adrenaline fueling her strength. She let go of him and dropped herself into a fighting stance, the thin fingers of her right hand close to his throat, and nodded her head in the direction of the Fire Nation camp. "Go," she commanded, threatening silently and communicating her meaning with the cold look in her eyes. The guard stepped away from her reluctantly, but when she reached for the katana, he disappeared quite quickly.

With the end of the fight, all fell silent. Mai caught her breath and smoothed out the large sleeves of her shirt. She suddenly remembered Thomas, who was still standing quietly beside a large pine tree. She glanced at him. "Let's move," she barked, and after a moment of wide-eyed staring, he followed her silently.

**-O-**

They travelled on until the sun rose, then rested for awhile but began moving again as soon as they could. Mai pressed Thomas on roughly, knowing that it might mean death if they stopped for too long or took their time. The two defeated guards no doubt when back to camp and told their story of their battle with the fierce girl in the darkness, and if they gave too much information, it would not be long before they figured out they it had been Mai, traitor of the princess. She was just another person on Azula's hit-list now.

By the time dusk came around, Thomas was vocally complaining of his fatigue, despite Mai's warnings to be quiet. They were still in the deep woods of the forest, which seemed to stretch on forever, and finally Thomas stopped and leaned his back against a tree. "We've got to rest soon," he said bravely.

"I say when we rest," Mai snapped, "not you. If you want to stop, go ahead, but I'm going on."

Thomas moaned.

"The Fire Nation is after me," she stated. "They have been for awhile. I don't know why you're even following me. It's not like I invited you."

Thomas flashed a quick glare at her. "Would you rather me leave?"

She did not answer, only looked at him and arched one eyebrow slightly. He looked away, interpreting the silent anwer. Mai knew she had offended him, but since when did she care about things like that? Let _him_ live her boring life for years, then put up with Azula for awhile, and see how friendly he was. But that was just Mai's personality, and it was true that the two of them were very different. Thomas could be very open and had a fairly carefree attitude, while Mai took everything seriously and did not have time to be careless.

She pushed him on until nightfall, then chose a spot on the left side of a shallow creek to rest. "We'll camp here tonight," she stated, and sat down and just then realized that she was very tired and hungry. It was better to travel at night and rest during the day, but their fatigue would not allow that right now. Thomas lay back on the ground, moaning and mumbling to himself. Mai ignored it and said, "Start a fire. I'm going to find something to eat."

"Thank goodness," he grumbled as Mai rose from her spot in the dirt. "Get as much as you can."

She scoffed at him and headed off into the twilight. In the clearing it would have been more lit, but in the woods the trees blocked off the light and therefore made it appear more dark. Mai smelled rain in the air and heard the distant rumble of an oncoming storm, and was annoyed to know that the night was more than likely going to be a wet one. She had only one remaining stiletto in her sleeve, and she retrieved it and clutched it in her hand as she silently made her way around through the trees. The first living thing that she saw, she planned to nail it.

It happened to be a large quail. She heard it moving around before she saw it, and froze in mid-move when it fell into her line of vision. She stiffened and prepared to launch the weapon, and when the time was right, let it fly. The bird went down in a flash of feathers, and fluttered for a few seconds before it stopped moving. Satisfied with herself, Mai went to it and pulled out the bloody stiletto from the bird's chest and briefly dried it off before putting it back in her sleeve. Good thing she was such a good aim. She picked up the quail by the tail feathers and decided that it was large enough to feed both her and Thomas, and if he wanted something else, he could just go get it himself.

By the time she reached their campsite, Thomas had put together a pile of dry sticks and was blowing on a small flame inside them, which grew larger with each breath. He glanced at Mai as she sat down, and she began plucking the feathers from the bird in fistfuls. His eyes fell to the soon-to-be food, and he turned back to the fire and blew harder.

It was soon roaring, and Mai had the featherless meat of the bird speared with a thick arrow and held cooking over the crackling fire. Thomas sat with his knees up, looking on hungrily, but the two of them were silent. Mai kept glancing up at him with annoyance, wondering if he could not find something else to stare at, and was glad when the meat was finally cooked.

She for once found it easy to fall asleep that night, after making sure that there was distance between her and Thomas, as usual. He seemed to be asleep as soon as he lay down, but Mai was awake for a few minutes, flat on her back with her ankles crossed and the thick ringlets of her hair flowing out on the ground around her. She glared over at Thomas, who was nothing but a dark silhoette on the ground, and thought seriously about ditching him tomorrow as she fell asleep.

Mai did not know what woke her up a few hours later; perhaps it had been a thunderclap, or the light rain that was beginning to drop from the sky, but all she knew was that suddenly she was awake. Lightning flashed across the sky, and in the brief second of light she saw that Thomas was nowhere to be seen. The thing in itself was not so strange, but for some reason it secretly unnerved her. Not that she felt as if she needed him; it would just make her feel awful if something had happened to him. And besides, the very night itself was creepy.

The rain began to fall harder, and Mai sat up. There was no shelter out here, not in the woods. If she wanted to get out of the rain, the only thing to do would be to get under a tree, but she was already under one and it was not helping much. She blinked the sleep away from her eyes and noticed that, strangely, her heart was beating quite hard. She swallowed and silently told herself to go back to sleep, and laid back again on the wet ground.

There was a sudden crash in the dark shadows, and a deep cry of pain. Thomas. Mai was up and on her feet before she even knew that she was doing it, and she took a few steps in the direction of where she had heard the sounds, and she was hearing more. By the sound of it, it seemed as if Thomas was in some kind of a scuffle. Annoyed that he could not take care of himself, Mai squinted and shielded her eyes from the rain with her free hand.

After a quick flash of movement, Thomas suddenly came hurtling head-first from the weeds and crashed to the ground on his shoulder, sliding a few feet and smashing into Mai's shins. Various places in his shirt were ripped, and he was bleeding. There was no time to ask what was happening, and Thomas pushed himself up, panting, and clutched his ribs, his teeth grinding together.

Mai pushed him to the side. "Leave it to me," she barked, and drew the katana. There was suddenly the dark outline of a figure a few yards in front of her, and she faced it head-on. As she and the figure rushed forward to meet each other, she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. If the Fire Nation guards had located them, she was in trouble.

But there was only one person, and he did not seem to be wearing armor. He had two broadswords, one in each hand, and Mai's katana smashed off the blades that formed a criss-crossed blocking shield with a metallic clash. The force of it drove her back a step or two, but she came back quickly, silently, swinging her sword gracefully, but all of her attacks were blocked again. As her opponent blocked high with his swords, and she could tell that he was young by the grunts and growls of his battle cries, she attempted to kick low, but he countered that with a kick of his own. Mai danced out of the way and then barely dodged the oncoming swipe of another sword attack.

He was very skilled with his weapons, that was easy to tell, and he was strong. Mai could feel it in the force of his blows that she blocked and dodged. Unaware of quite how it was happening, she was being driven backwards across the wet ground, and as much as she fought it, she had no choice but to go back if she wanted to dodge the deadly blades of those broadswords.

Mai saw an open chance to make her own move, and she launched herself to the left in a no-handed cartwheel. Her landing was steady, even on the wet dirt, but her opponent was just as fast as she was and was upon her again, and she was hard-put to block the oncoming wave of swipes and slashes. She could not see his face; it was too dark, even when the lightning flashed, but she could luckily see enough to tell when to dodge, block, or attack. And now was the time for an attack. In a one-handed swing with the katana, she connected the blade perfectly, which clashed hard into the hilt in his right hand, and his sword went whistling through the air and stuck hard into a tree.

They were evenly matched now, or at least with weapons. Mai felt the rain dripping off her bangs and onto her face, and the two of them were motionless in their fighting stances for a moment. But the loss of one weapon did not deter him for long, and as he came rushing at her, she skitted backwards and pulled two shurikens from her sleeve. In one quick motion, she threw them with as much force as she could muster, and they cut through the air dangerously. He stopped and whacked them from the air with his remaining blade, and they stuck deep into the ground a few yards away. Mai was practically on him in one leap, with both hands on the katana, but as she came down, he reached up with one hand and caught her wrists, throwing her attack completely off. She was uncomfortably suspended for a split second, but then he shoved her back to where she fell to the ground. She hit the mud on her shoulders, and turned the fall into an agile, backward somersault that brought her back up quickly.

Now she noticed that she had somehow lost the katana. It was no doubt somewhere on the ground in the vacinity, but there was certainly no time to look for it. She backed up a step, but only to gain her balance, and then shot herself at him violently. It was a very foolish move, really, for she was bladeless, but she was willing to try. With each hand into the latter sleeve, she whipped out two handfuls of arrows and let them fly. He slashed a few of them away with his remaining sword, but he had to turn away and doge the others. Mai took advantage of this, her teeth grinding together in a closed mouth, and she connected a few hard kicks into her opponent's unprotected side. He growled his pain and turned back to face her, but she was already on the other side of him with her hands around his sword, and she kicked him in the stomach, which released his grip on the sword and let it fall into her hands. An expert with flying weapons, she threw it hard to the side, and it disappeared deep into the darkness.

With another bolt of lightning, Mai saw the flash of the green and brown color of his clothes, but other than that could not make out much more. And his stomach might as well have been made out of rock, for he recovered quickly, and the hand-to-hand fight was on. She blocked his hard punches, which were heavy and bruised her arms, but at least she was blocking. He pulled back and did a three-sixty-degree spin-kick, which Mai barely ducked under and could feel the air off of it above her.

Was it just Mai, or was the ground suddenly steaming? She did not know, but she pushed herself up from her crouch and smashed her fist square into his jaw. She was surprised that she had connected, but all of the sudden Thomas was close- too close. Enraged that he had ignored her command to leave the fight to her, she threw her one last stiletto at him, which stabbed through the sleeve of his shirt and pinned him to a tree. She could see that his eyes were wide with fear during the next flash of lightning, and then she turned her attention back to the battle at hand, but was unfortunately a little to late.

Her opponent hit her squarely --with what, she was not quite sure...probably his fist-- and she was nearly driven back into the creek. She fought for her balance at the edge of the water, but knowing it was lost, figured that she might as well go down fighting. She threw a hard sweep-kick, which he had obviously not been expecting, and when she hit him hard, they both went down into the water.

Mai landed on her back with her knees up, and he fell horizontally on top of her. At first all she noticed was the freezing coldness of the water, but then something else caught her attention. Just as he pushed himself up onto his knees, Mai was hit with a flashback. It was centered a few years ago, and Azula and Ty Lee were there, and she remembered falling into the fountain in a position similar to this, and she had been embarrassed...

He was on his knees with his fist drawn back, and Mai felt her breath suck in- not with fear, but with realization. She swallowed and pushed herself up onto her elbows in the water.

"Zuko?"

**-O-**

**Well it was an attempt, at least. This won't be a very long story, but somebody review on it plz.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey thanks for the reviews, I didn't really expect as many as I got. Maybe there are just more Maizu shippers out there than I thought, XD**

**-O-**

Mai was still in the creek, stiff with surprise, and her head tilted back slightly to get a better look at him. At first she had thought she had jumped to conclusions and made a mistake about his identity, but as the lightning flashed across the sky again, she could tell that she was not mistaken at all. The burn scar over his left eye made her sure.

Zuko relaxed his fist and sat back in the water. "Mai," he said shakily, as if he was just as surprised to see her as she was him.

True, they had not seen one another for a few years; the last Mai had seen him was at his Agni Kai three years ago where he had received the severe burn over his eye, directly by the hand of his father, Fire Lord Ozai. It had horrified Mai when she had witnessed it, as well as everyone else, but no one dared say a challenging word to the Fire Lord. The man had claimed that the act was to be a 'punishment' for Prince Zuko to learn respect, and then had exiled his son. All because Zuko had refused to battle his father instead of the man whom he had verbally insulted.

Still propped up on her elbows in the water, Mai swallowed and felt a hot blush on her cheeks, and was glad for the darkness to hide it. Maybe her old crush on him was not completely quenched, after all. "Zuko... has your exile brought you all the way out here?"

He did not answer right away; he stood up slowly, the water pouring off him in streams. Mai pulled herself to her feet as well and looked up at him. He was tall, and even under his loose tunic she could tell he was powerfully built, and his brown hair was no longer in the customary top-knot; instead it was short, but thick and choppy- she liked it.

Usually very calm and collected, Mai now felt very awkward, and was sure that Zuko did as well. Then she realized that he probably thought that she was still an ally to Azula, and was more than likely expecting that she might attack him again, or Azula would appear out of nowhere to pursue a fight. Mai quickly wanted to make sure that he knew the truth of it. "Azula and I have seperated company. You know how she is, I'm sure." She gritted her teeth silently and felt like kicking herself. She had not been this uncomfortable for a long time, if ever. She hated to lose her calm composure, and fought to get it back. She slipped each of her hands into the latter sleeve and straightened her back to appear as if she was much less shaken than she really was.

Zuko turned from her and stepped out of the creek. Mai followed awkwardly, and suddenly remembered that Thomas still existed. He had freed himself from the tree and hurried over angrily. Luckily he had not heard the words that had been passed between them, and Mai was glad for a chance to cover for Zuko. Any other time, back when she had still been with Azula, she would not have hesitated to turn the exiled prince in to the fire nation, for he was considered a traitor by the Fire Lord, but now that she was on her own, she was glad to be making her own decisions.

"Mai, are you all right?" Thomas asked, the worry clear in his voice. Mai sniffed- the bruises on her arms were throbbing, but that could easily be excused now, so she nodded stiffly. Thomas glared at Zuko and spit out, "You know this guy?"

"Yes," Mai said icily. "His name is-" She paused and looked at Zuko, her eyes questioningly. Thomas would not know the exiled prince by sight, but he would surely recognize the name. Zuko caught on quickly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Lee," he said flatly. Somehow, Mai could tell that he was used to saying that to people.

"Well, _Lee,_" Thomas said with clear distrust, "why is it that you attacked me?"

Zuko's expression changed to one of severe restraint, and Mai could tell that he was fighting to say, _You attacked me_. Without knowing exactly why, Mai jumped to Zuko's defense. "Be quiet, Thomas," she said harshly. Was it because she truly did want to defend Zuko, or did she just enjoy being rude to Thomas? Probably both, but she was pretty sure that it was mostly the former, and that unnerved her in a good way.

Thomas looked genuinely surprised that he was the one she was snapping at. "But he attacked us, Mai." He stepped forward to her with his hand extended in worry. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Insanely annoyed with him, she reached over and seized his blond hair in her thin fingers. "Thomas, go away," she said through her teeth, and shoved him back as she let go. His eyes narrowed at Zuko, a clear sign of immediate hate and jealousy, but he did not dare stick around when Mai had told him to leave. He backed off and then disappeared into the shadows.

Mai felt the raindrops dropping, and her hands went back into her sleeves as she turned back to Zuko. She could not remember being in as such an awkward situation as this- well, except for the incident in the fountain a long time ago, and they could thank Azula's rudeness for that. Meeting up with Zuko again had been so unexpected and was still accomplishing to turn her reserved nature inside-out. Right now it felt like the most uncomfortable thing in the world. Was he as nervous as she was? She had never known if he liked her as she liked him, though she had always wondered. The two of them had been seperated too quickly by Zuko's sudden exile to find out.

Zuko leaned over to wring the water out of his clothes, which dripped down onto his leather knee-high boots. As he worked on the task, which seemed to have much more effort put into it than needed, he said flatly to Mai after a moment of silence, "We know why I'm out here. Why are you?"

Glad to be having some sort of conversation, Mai tried to relax herself. "Azula, of course. She's put me onto her list of traitors now... along with you and your uncle. Where is Iroh, anyway?"

Zuko looked pained, and he froze in mid-move. "I don't know. I left him to go on my own way some time ago." He closed his eyes suddenly, as if there were more to the story and it was painful to remember. Mai was curious, but did not ask. She that, or at least used to, Zuko had a bad temper. He kind of reminded her of herself.

Mai suddenly felt a chill, for it was still raining and the wind was picking up. With another flash of lightning, she took in more sight of Zuko. Even with the dreadful scar, he was quite the looker and very attractive according to Mai. He still wore the hard expression that he always had, even three years ago, but there was something about him that seemed to be missing. At first, looking at him, Mai could not place it, but suddenly she realized it. It was his pride that was greatly diminished; somewhere during his exile, and had obviously had a great deal of humbling. For a moment Mai felt sorry for him, then was surprised at herself for feeling anything of the sort for anyone. Well, it seemed as if Zuko was an exception to a lot of her own qualities- the only person that she had ever dared feel this way about.

Mai lowered her deep womanly voice and said, "You seem to be holding out pretty well. I noticed that in the fight you didn't use your firebending."

"It'd be a dead giveaway to who I am," Zuko said firmly, and stopped wringing out his clothes. "I didn't know it was you I was fighting, and even if I had, I couldn't have trusted you. I still can't."

Somehow that stabbed Mai very deeply. True, it was her own fault that he had any reason to distrust her, for she had agreed with Azula to track him down in the first place. If she had not done that, she and Zuko might still remotely be friends. But if she had not done that, she would not be talking to him now. So fate was a very strange thing.

"You can trust me," Mai stated. "Even if you don't know it now."

Suddenly Zuko grew hostile. "Don't think I don't know that you were one of those who were tracking me down. What did you plan on doing with me once you caught me? You were just as bad as Azula."

Mai blinked hard, and she felt the raindrops running down her face. Thunder crackled in that moment of silence, and she decided that if he could get angry, so could she. "You don't know what I would have done," she snapped. Even though an argument was brewing, she was still so glad at finding him again that --this thought surprised even her-- she kind of wanted to hug him. She had never really wanted to hug anyone, not even her little brother.

Her harsh words of reply seemed to calm Zuko for some reason. He ran his fingers through his damp hair (Mai noticed attentively that he had big, strong hands- she had felt his blows as well and was secretly impressed) and sighed slightly. "Mai... I'm sorry, it's complicated." Everything about him seemed to be complicated, but she liked that. "Look, I need to find my broadswords." He turned and glanced at her from the corner of his good eye. His voice was thick as he said, "You fight even better than you used to."

As he walked away in the direction she had sent his swords flying, she stood and stared blankly at the back of him. Was that just a compliment, from Prince Zuko? There was no doubt that his exile had changed him a lot, but Mai had never expected that drastic of a transformation. The way she remembered him was hotheaded and arrogant, usually saying even the rude things that were on his mind, for a prince could get away with that kind of thing. But not a young man with his old uncle in exile. It just did not work that way.

Mai was a little unsure at what to do next. Since she had been the one to lose his swords in the first place, she decided to help him look for them. And that way she could have more time to talk with him, for there was no telling when he would decide to go off on his own again. And surprisingly, Mai did not want him to go yet, even though it was probably inevitable.

When she caught up with him, he had already pulled one sword from a tree, slid it into the sheath on his back, and was searching for the other. Mai joined him silently, feeling somewhat foolish for a reason she did not know, and quickly located the other sword under a thick thornbush. She got down on her knees and pulled it out gently, getting stuck all over with thorns, then got up and handed it to him wordlessly. His hand touched hers as he grasped the hilt, and it paused there for a moment before he took the sword from her. Mai looked down at her black fingernails before quickly slipping her hands into her large sleeves.

Zuko dropped the sword into the other sheath, which _shwooshed_ in with a metallic sound. Mai swallowed again and watched him. It was not much use looking for her shurikens and arrows in the dark, though they were close by somewhere, so she decided to wait until daylight. She was tired, but adrenaline was keeping her awake and excited, though this excitement did not show in her expressions in the least. She was a master at hiding her feelings behind a dull reserved mask.

"Lee," Mai said at last, and he turned to look at her. She used his alias name just in case Thomas was around listening, and it sounded strange to say it. "If you want," she said dully, "you can camp with... us." Darn Thomas. "It's not like I don't have room."

Zuko shrugged slightly. "All right. Thank you."

Forbid that Zuko should think that Thomas was her boyfriend. If there was any sliver of chance that Zuko liked her, nothing would ever be done about it if he thought that. So she must find some tactful way to make it clear that Thomas was just a tag-along who never ceased to annoy her. But she did not have any ideas yet.

Mai glanced up at the raining sky. "I don't have any shelter." Too bad neither of them was an earthbender, or they could just make a cave. "I guess we'll just be wet."

And they were. By the time the three of them had settled down to sleep under a clump of trees, the suddenly irritable Thomas in the middle, the rain was coming down quite hard. Mai lay on her back with hands behind her head, and she glanced to her right and saw that, past Thomas, Zuko was already down on his side and asleep. Maybe if he was comfortable enough to fall asleep so quickly, he was probably not that nervous. Or perhaps he was just very tired.

Thomas was blatantly glaring at Zuko, who even looked hard and tough when he was asleep, and Mai frowned and leaned over to eblow Thomas in the side. She mouthed a threat when he looked over at her, and he quickly turned his gaze up to the sky. She rolled her eyes at him in silent frustration, and later fell asleep with her mind still on Zuko.

**-O-**

It had finally stopped raining by morning, but Mai was still damp when she awoke. At first when she sat up from her dry spot on the ground, she was confused at where she was, for a moment expecting to be back in her own boring house, or maybe somewhere with Azula and Ty Lee. But when she began to focus on her surroundings, she realized where she was and saw Thomas nearby, crouched on the ground and trying to start a fire with a few sticks. She looked past him and scanned the area slowly, and felt a stab of distress when she did not see who she was looking for. But she refused to let that show.

Nonchalantly she asked, "Is Lee still here?"

Thomas stopped working the stick and glared up at her, then jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to indicate that Zuko was up the creek somewhere. She frowned at Thomas as he turned back to his work, and she headed up the creek in search of Zuko. She did not know what she would say when she found him, but she felt as if she did not say something he might decide to continue on his own way again. If he had left his own uncle, there was no reason that he would not leave her as well. Not only did Mai not want to be left alone with Thomas again, her old feelings for the exiled prince had been resurrected with his sudden appearance again. Ty Lee had teased Mai about it all of it before, but had got nothing but a small grin in return. Now, for the first time in a long while, Mai felt quite confused. There was no reason to think that Zuko had ever liked her in the same way before, no less if he did now.

Before the night of that Agni Kai, it had usually been easy to tell what the prince was thinking, for he would just say what was on his mind- that was one of the things that had brought him to the point he was now. No doubt he had been through a lot since then, and he had changed drastically, so there was more than likely no more of his blurting out his opinions. Mai thought --or hoped, rather-- that maybe since he had been humbled so much, perhaps he had room and time to have feelings for someone.

Mai could not believe that she was thinking this way. It was so out-of-character for her that it made her almost uncomfortable with herself. That was why she was feeling so differently than her normal quiet, intimidating self. Usually she was a very reserved person that kept to herself, but for some reason she felt open to Zuko, as if she did not mind letting someone in. Even if he did not like her in the way she liked him.

She found him bent down by the creek, splashing water on his face, and she stood silently behind him with her hands in the sleeves. He froze for a quick moment, a sign that he knew she was there, then let the water that was in his hands trickle back down into the creek. Mai tilted her chin back and looked down her nose at him as he turned to look at her.

"Mai," he said.

"Zuko," she replied, as if they were two rivals who were meeting again for the first time in awhile. It pained her to to think that was what it reminded her of- maybe it was her own tone trying to hide what she was really feeling, but either way she was being more cold to him than she wanted to. After always acting this way to everyone almost her whole life, it was difficult to act in a different way than one was accustomed to.

It was easy to tell that Zuko wanted to say something else, but he was obviously out of words for the moment. He stood up and dried his hands on his tunic. Now that it was daylight, Mai could overlook him more accurately. As he glanced up at her, she noticed the gold specks reflect in his eyes, and it brought back memories of years ago. She had always thought that he had nice eyes, and still did now, even with the scar over the left. It was killing her that she did not know what he was thinking about her. Just her luck, he probably was not thinking anything.

"It was a wet night last night," he said awkwardly. His voice was deep, and Mai liked it.

"It was." Here they were talking about the weather like two old bored farmers. It was not at all the things that Mai wanted to say. She wanted to know exactly what Zuko had been doing in the time of his exile, where he had gone and who he had met. She remembered back when the Fire Lord hard announced his son's banishment, that the only way the prince would be accepted back was to bring back the Avatar- a seemingly impossible task, for the master of all four elements had vanished a hundred years ago. But there was another young Avatar here now, who Zuko had probably been pursuing, as Mai would guess. She wanted to know if Zuko had ever found the young boy, but there seemed to be no way to ask that would not bring back memories and be hurtful.

"Your friend," Zuko said, "Thomas. He said you're headed for Shecca."

"He's not my friend- or my anything," she added. "He just insisted on following me. And yes, I'm headed for Shecca. The Fire Nation doesn't know me there."

Zuko glanced at her with a look of pain in his eyes. It was much more difficult for him to be on the run, for people would recognize the Fire Nation prince much more easily than they would Mai. Then his expression suddenly had a twinge of anger to it. "Azula knows just how to keep someone on the run. She's hard to avoid. I know."

Mai looked down at the wet ground. She wanted to say she was sorry, but that was so unusual for her that she could not do it. "She does," she said instead. "And she's got Ty Lee right along with her."

Zuko's fists clenched and the muscles in his hands tightened. "My sister's got people on her hit-list; me and my uncle, the Avatar, and now you. All just to bend to the will of our father and exercise her power." His eyes closed angrily. "I guess she's heir to the throne now. As if she needs more for her ego."

Mai tilted her head to the side. Just a few minutes ago she had wanted to talk to him seriously, and now suddenly he was doing so out of his own free will. What luck. Maybe this was her chance to get to know some more things about him. "You never know," she said quietly, "your father may get to realize what he's doing and accept you back, even without the Avatar."

His eyes opened and he looked at her almost sadly. "No... and besides, I've gotten over trying." He turned away from her and his voice cracked. "I've captured the Avatar more than once. Once he escaped, but the other time... I let him go."

Mai was surprised, and her eyebrows rose under her bangs. "You let him go?"

Zuko shook his head. "Maybe it's just the things Uncle Iroh has been saying to me over the years. I've learned to live without my throne, my father, and even my honor. I've gotten used to it after awhile. I don't need all of that." He sighed through his teeth. "I don't know why I'm rambling to you about all this..."

He was certainly not rambling. Mai was hanging onto every word. "Just because you don't need it doesn't mean you don't want it." She took a step towards him. "Zuko, I know you still don't trust me, but you _can_." These words were so against her nature that she had to force them out, for they must be said. "I'm not like Azula, and I'm not even with her anymore. She's gone."

"Not completely. If she ever catches either of us... I know the punishment for being a traitor well, because I used to enforce it, Mai."

She was not so sure. "And that is?"

He looked at her firmly but did not speak. Even though he had not said a word, Mai understood. The punishment for treason to the Fire Nation was more than likely the offender's life.

"So," Mai said after a moment of silence, "you've given up on searching for the Avatar. What are you going to do next?"

Zuko shrugged. "Find a village somewhere far away from Azula and get a job, I guess." He suddenly frowned. "Uncle's always trying to set me up with girls."

Here was what Mai had been aiming for. "And you don't want a girlfriend?" She sounded as if she did not care, but really she was dying to know.

"No," he said bluntly. "It's hard to have a girlfriend in exile."

Now this was not going the way Mai had wanted it to. If he did not even want a girl, it would be pointless to ever let him know that she liked him. She was sure that he knew that she used to have a crush on him, but that did not mean anything for what she felt now. She wondered at herself for a moment, and at the foolishness of actually thinking that she and Zuko might have a future. They were both wanted by the Fire Nation and he was the exiled prince who was still trying to find his footing in the world, and there was probably just no way it could ever work.

Suddenly Thomas was there with them, and Mai had never felt more like strangling him. She stood glaring at him, but his eyes were fiercely on Zuko, who just looked back with a hard expression. Thomas seemed annoyed that the conversation had blatantly stopped with his arrival on the scene, and his jaw was so tight it looked as if it might break. "I can't get the fire to start," he said harshly to Mai. "Maybe _Lee _could start one for you."

Never had Mai wanted to drive her fingernails into Thomas more than she did now. "Maybe you could go somewhere and mind your own for once," she snapped.

"This is my own," he said. "Do you think I actually trust that guy? Lee's probably not even his real name."

Was there a reason that Thomas might think that? Either he had been eavesdropping or he was just very sharp. "It doesn't matter who you trust," Mai said flatly. "And I don't need your opinion. I never asked for you to follow me in the first place."

Thomas' eyes flashed. "Maybe I should find my own way to Shecca."

"Maybe you should," she agreed angrily. She jabbed a long finger towards the south. "Or go back to the Fire Nation camp."

"That's a great idea! I'm sure Princess Azula would like to know your whereabouts- you know, they pay a pretty penny to people who give out information on _traitors_."

He had to be bluffing. "You're not going to hold anything over my head, Thomas. You wouldn't turn me in."

It was a very true saying, and Thomas knew that he was caught in his own words. His teeth grinded back and forth in his closed mouth. "You're right." He nodded to Zuko. "But I would turn _him_ in."

Zuko frowned, and Mai blinked slowly. What was that supposed to mean?

"It's not like I don't know who he is," Thomas laughed scornfully. "You really don't give me enough credit, Mai. You actually think I don't know he's Prince Zuko? Who has a scar like that by accident?"

Maybe she hadn't given him enough credit. "Thomas, don't you say anything about this," she warned.

"What's stopping me? Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'm going on my own now, and you two can stay together and pretend that you don't like each other." When he saw Mai's surprised and blushing face, he laughed again. "Oh, I guess you figured I didn't notice that either. Well, I don't care." He looked at Zuko. "You can have her, okay? And to think that I liked her! Ha."

Mai was so caught off guard that she did not know what to do. Thomas was walking away into the woods, just like that, and Mai was confused. She was glad that he was leaving, but to find out that he had known so much! She glanced at Zuko, who was watching Thomas storm off with a slight color to his cheeks, as if it were the remains of a blush. Mai bit her lip slightly and felt as if she could nearly pass out from embarrassment.

Thomas turned back to them but continued walking backwards. "Oh, and make your own frickin' fire. Just ask Prince Zuko to firebend one for you."

Mai had the urge to throw a shuriken at him, but ignored it. She looked at Zuko and shrugged a little, as if trying to apologize for Thomas' rudeness. Thomas turned straight again and disappeared through the trees. And when he was clearly gone, there was a dead, bashful silence. Zuko coughed ever so slightly, and Mai ran her fingernails over her palms inside her sleeves. The silence dragged on for a few seconds that seemed more like hours. Finally Mai gathered herself enough to speak.

"I doubt he'll turn you in," she said in a low voice, trying desperately to cover what she was feeling. "Even if he does, you can avoid it again. You have so far. Thomas is just all talk."

Zuko looked at her with eyebrows raised slightly, as if he wanted to say something but could not. Mai knew how that felt. She was dying to tell him that she used to have a crush on him and still did, if it was not more than a crush. It was confusing to meet up with someone you liked without seeing them for years, for she was not sure if she had the right to still like him. He had changed so much that maybe he was nothing like he used to be, which could be either good or bad.

"Mai," Zuko said huskily, and in the next flash of lightning she saw that he was looking at the ground. "You know... I could stay with you for awhile, if you don't care. And if you don't mind the danger of an exiled prince being with you."

She was so caught off guard that she did not know what to say at first, but she was glad that he had asked. She had been thinking that he would go off on his own again. "I'm also wanted, Zuko." She nodded her head once. "So you can stay with me."

**-O-**

After a week of traveling together, the two of them were much more accustomed to one another, and Mai realized that she had gotten over her nervousness around Zuko. But her feelings remained the same, if not stronger. And since they traveled quickly and saw no sight of the Fire Nation, they were quite sure that Thomas had not reported them.

Sometimes Mai wondered what happened to Thomas; where he had gone and what he was doing. Not that she particularly cared about him, but she was more worried that he had gone to the Fire Nation, or perhaps even Azula herself. Zuko was the one that did not seem too concerned, for he had been avoiding his sister and tribe for years now, and probably quite used to it. Though not overly afraid herself, Mai admired his bravery quite a lot. And she really wondered if he admired hers at all.

He was a great help when it came to cooking. Usually Mai would hunt and Zuko would cook when she brought it back, for he could easily start a roaring fire in a matter of seconds. He told her that he and his uncle had worked in a tea shop once, so he was quite an expert at making at tea. This seemed to be a little unlike something he would be good at, but Mai was starting to get used to his differences now. He had gotten older and he had been in exile for three years- there was no reason that he should be the same.

Not to say that she did not like him this way; she certainly did. And she wanted to know what he thought about her. Back when she was part of Azula's trio, Ty Lee had teased her more than once about her feelings for Zuko, for she was one of the only people who ever knew about it, she and Azula. At those times that Ty Lee had pointed it out that it would be 'interesting' for them to see Zuko again, Mai had smiled at the thought of it but never expected that it would actually happen, especially as soon as it had. And she had been entirely unprepared.

At least Zuko was at ease with the situation, or at least he appeared to be. Sometimes he would look at her strangely and she could not tell what he was thinking, or their hands would touch for whatever reason and he would be the first to shyly pull away. Times like these would make Mai even more confused than she already was, but it was completely against her nature to blatantly ask if he liked her. She had hardly even considered that.

They had stuck to the deep woods, which seemed to stretch on forever, but at least they were safer this way. And more alone. It drove Mai crazy that they were the only ones out here for miles and there was nothing she could do to quench the burning fire within her. One night as they sat around a crackling fire that Zuko had made with just the flick of his wrist, the sky was clear and the moon full, and Mai was having conflicting thoughts. She sat with her knees up and her arms loosely around them, and she kept glancing at Zuko, who was sitting by the fire and slowly polishing the blade of one of his broadswords. There was a small voice in Mai's head that was telling her to just state her feelings, but a louder one that was telling her to keep her dignity and stay silent as usual. Zuko obviously noticed her looking at him, for he glanced up and actually smiled slightly. Mai was surprised and felt herself flush, which luckily for her could not be seen, even in the bright moonlight.

Suddenly the fire between them roared up nearly three times its original height. Mai's hands shot up to naturally to protect her face and she had to jump back to avoid being caught aflame. Zuko dropped his sword aside and almost literally threw himself onto the raging fire. At first Mai was amazed and actually frightened for him, but when he pulled back again it was obvious that he was firebending, and he stood up and removed the still burning flames from the ground. They were suspended in the air between his hands for a moment, but then he motioned in a half-circled orb, and the flames promptly diminished under his control and then turned to nothing but smoke.

Mai had to admit to herself that she was impressed. But when she looked up at Zuko's face his expression was sheepish, clearly embarrassed, and Mai had a thought that maybe the fire so suddenly raging up had not been done merely by itself. She had not been sure that a firebender could control flame that was not produced by their own selves, but this incident showed that they certainly could. Not to say that she thought Zuko had done it on purpose --though that was a possibility-- because firebending could maybe be controlled by emotion, as far as she knew. But just what had Zuko been feeling to cause the fire to explode like that? She certainly wondered.

Zuko cleared his throat nervously and helped her up from the ground, which she did not need but accepted anyway. "Are you all right?" he asked, and it was obvious that he was honestly concerned for her. When she nodded and assured him that she was, he grinned apologetically and picked up his sword. "I don't know why that happened... I'm usually in control."

So he _had_ caused it. And Mai was curious to know why. "Nobody's hurt," she replied flatly, for that was what mattered, she guessed. She bent down to the ashes and pile of sticks that had been scattered and began to scrape them back together in a pile. Zuko sheathed the sword and bent down to help her. They worked in silence, and Mai noticed that it was hard to breathe; not from the smoke of the fire, but rather because she was so close to him. This did not happen often, for they usually kept a respectful distance from one another, especially during the night. But right now it seemed almost natural to be right by him.

Once everything was back in its original pile, Mai noticed that their hands were covered in a thick layer of black ash. Later she would look at this moment as maybe fate or luck, but at the moment she was annoyed. She took off her gloves and tried to remove what had accumulated under her long fingernails, but it was not going to be easy without water. Zuko suggested that they head over to the creek, and she followed him. The full moon was reflecting off of the flowing water, and it made quite a beautiful scene, but neither of them noticed. They bent down on the sandy bank and dipped their hands into the water and as they washed in silence, Mai's hand brushed Zuko's. It had been an clear accident, but a few seconds later his hand quite blatantly rested on the back of hers. Her heart skipped a beat as his fingers moved gently up over her wrist and somewhat over her forearm.

She looked up at his face and he was looking back at her, and suddenly without knowing how, they were standing and he was kissing her on the lips and she was kissing him back, and as he pulled her closer to him her hands slipped over his shoulders and to the back of his neck. She could feel his muscles and the wet coldness of his hands, but his mouth was warm and inviting. His grip around her shifted and he dipped her back slightly, as if in a dance, and she clung tighter around his neck. She had never kissed anyone this way; nor had she wanted to. It seemed as if all her confused questions of whether Zuko liked her at all were answered silently with that kiss.

There was no telling how it would have all ended if what happened next had not happened. From somewhere up high, a sinister and female voice emitted a harsh laugh. Zuko and Mai pulled away from each other as if slapped, and the laugh only intensified. Startled and embarrassed, Zuko whipped his swords from their sheaths and quickly dropped into a stiff fighting stance. Someone dropped down gracefully from the high branch of a tree and landed with hard a noise, and it could not have been someone that they wanted to see any less.

Azula.

Her evil-sounding laugh quieted, and she took a few steps forward. "I've been looking for the both of you for a long time," she said teasingly, "and no doubt I find you- together, no less!" Her brown hair moved slightly in the wind, and then her face as well as tone hardened. "We all know what the Fire Lord will pay for not only one traitor, but two. We'll see what I can do to help him." Her hands ignited in an icy blue fire, and she let out a battle cry as she rushed foward to meet them both.

**-O-**

**Cliffhangers are always fun. I know it took me forever to get this chapter up, so I wanna see some reviews, lol**


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